Faculty/Graduate Student Collaborative Workshop at the DMC Workshop Theme: Ocean-Climate Connections

Held at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, ME Friday, January 29, 2010 and Monday through Tuesday, February 1-2, 2010

In response to interest from graduate students and research faculty, COSEE-OS adapted its "scientist-educator collaborative" workshop model to focus on opening new lines of communication between faculty and graduate students, and providing graduate students with a professional development opportunity. This workshop, held at the Darling Marine Center in February of 2010, exposed "scientists-in-training" to tools and other pedagogical techniques that can assist them in communicating complex science content to non-scientist audiences.

Seventeen graduate and post-doctoral students from four research institutions came to the Darling Marine Center to collaborate with five ocean science researchers in developing concept maps about important ocean and climate science topics. Most of these scientists-in-training are conducting their research at the School of Marine Sciences at the Orono or Darling Marine Center campuses of the University of Maine. Others are based at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland or Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor. One post-doc joined the group from France.

Feedback from the workshop revealed that SMS students have a strong desire to receive more training in educational pedagogy. OS plans to conduct a series of focus groups with faculty and graduate students to discuss how to better integrate standards-based science education pedagogy into the School of Marine Sciences program. Graduate students with experience in the COSEE-OS workshop model will be invited to continue their involvement in relevant education and public outreach efforts as co-facilitators of future workshops.

Click on their names in the menu at left to learn more about these graduate students and post-docs.

Back row from left: Ivona Cetinic, Zachary Helm, Maria Nielsdottir, Ian Salter, Alina Gainusa-Bogdan, Keri Lindberg, Susie Arnold, Nicolas Record, Peter Stetson, and Artur Palacz. Kneeling from left: Beth Campbell, Ashley Young, Phoebe Jekielek, Laura Brothers, Kristin Wilson, and Mahima Jaini. Not shown: Marissa McMahan